Faster Scrapbooking with Micro Kits

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen me post several photos of micro kits. These are essentially page kits where I gather one or more photos and a specific set of supplies together for one layout.

Many times the items are a subset of a pre-coordinated kit, like those from Studio Calico. In this example below, I had gathered items from the Front Row Card Kit.

I find that making decisions in a separate sitting from my scrapping helps me work faster and be more creative with what I have in front of me. I will sometimes even make several micro kits at a time.

When I create my micro kits, I start with just one or two pieces at a time. This creates a mood for the page to which I can add more items. Sometimes the mood comes from embellishments, as in this example below, and others it comes from the patterned papers.

I don’t make too many micro kits at a time, only what I have surface area for. If I’m not feeling creative in a design sense, often combining products together with the story in mind will give me the inspiration I need. If this doesn’t happen right away, letting the concept germinate helps a lot.

How Do You Prepare to Scrap?

Many of our paper-using team members, like Sara Case Strickland, also use kits in one way or another. Sara says: “I’m a paper scrapper all the way so kits are my real go-to item. Pulling out a bag with paper, cardstock, letters, and embellies all coordinated and ready to go? Awesome. I do have wood veneer, my tiny attacher stapler, and flair buttons always on hand too though.”

Since I’ve been working with paper more often recently, I thought I’d also ask some of the Simple Scrapper digital team members how they get ready to scrapbook.

Lisa Corbin Polak’s process very much mirrors mine in digital format and Celeste Smith generally uses a single kit for her layouts as well.

Lisa says: “Most of the time I start with photos, look for a template, and then start picking elements. Lately, I find that I stick mostly to one kit. I’ll pull the papers, the edited photos, and some of the embellishments that I think I want to use into a layout. Often I save that and come back later to scrap. Of course, then I usually go back to look for more embellishments.”

Celeste says: “I typically start with a kit. Then I find photos to match the kit. I open all the papers in the kit and my photos, start a blank canvas and start making blocks for papers. Then at the end I usually have to go hunting for a few more items to complete the page.”

Ronnie Crowley, Jean Manis and Van Nguyen all tend to gather products as they scrapbook.

Ronnie says: “When I scrap digital it starts with the pictures and then I find a template. Then I consider what I want the page to feel like which pushes me to a specific color of paper, or a kit I know I have, or sends me to my organiser to look for a specific item. If it’s a paper or item I find in my stash on EHD I then look at what else is in that kit will work and sometimes I will work with just that. More often than not it will lead me elsewhere in my stash looking for something else. I don’t have to remember where I put it as I tag things multiple ways meaning I can find it multiple ways.”

Jean says: “Working digitally with a template, I choose the photograph then seek papers to go with the template/photos. Embellishments follow. I write the journaling about midway through the process. But I don’t have any [supplies prepared as kits].”

Van says: “When I scrap digitally, I usually stay within a collection and if I need something else not in the collection, I usually stay with the same designer. My go to embellishments like staples and stitches, however are always the same. And I love starting with a template or at least a sketch when I scrap digitally as well.”

I’d love to hear how you work. How do you get ready to scrap? And tell me, what do you think of the micro kit idea? Is it an approach that could help you scrapbook faster?